


Cairo

by eClair23



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-24 18:20:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20362972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eClair23/pseuds/eClair23
Summary: This is my take on how Clint and Nat first met, and how she came to work at SHIELD.





	Cairo

He first sees her face to face in a hotel room in Cairo. When he walks into the room, her huddled form in the corner captivates his eye. At the squeak of a board under his boot, her head snaps up to glare at him as she swipes at the tears on her face. A man lies in a pool of his own blood on the bed, covered only by a sheet. She’s clearly chosen this corner as a way to get as far away from the body as possible; uncharacteristic behavior for a master assassin, he notes. 

She eyes him suspiciously, pulling the bathrobe she’s wearing tighter as she shivers. “Are you here to kill me?” She can’t quite mask the fear and genuine curiosity in her voice.

He lowers himself to the floor next to her, leaning back against the wall. “I was supposed to be.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m not gonna do it. I’m not going to hurt you.”

She snorts. “Yeah, that’s convincing.”

“You’re shivering. Are you cold?”

As he moves to shrug off his jacket, she interrupts him. “I’m Russian, I don’t get cold.” 

He nods, pulling his jacket back on as he contemplates what to do next.

The next time he speaks, his voice is quiet and sincere. “Call me crazy, but you don’t seem too happy in your current line of work.”

“Really?” She asks drily. “What gave it away?”

He smiles. Their sense of humour is strikingly similar. “I want to offer you a job.”

“Excuse me?” 

“We could use you at SHIELD. And you wouldn’t have to do any of this anymore,” he gestures to the man on the bed, “not if you don’t want to… You could make decisions for yourself. No one would force you to do anything. You could have a choice.”

Her eyes widen. “A choice.” Her voice is hollow, like she’s not quite familiar with the word or what it means. 

“Yeah. You could say no to things you didn’t want to do. And no one can make you do anything. It’s your call, but SHIELD won’t hurt you for refusing a mission that you don’t want.”

“Freedom.”

He looks at her, the pain and desperation written all over her face. She wants to be free, so badly. But there’s a flicker of shame across her face, too. Embarrassment at being seen like this, at even daring to want something more. Her face shifts through many emotions very quickly: vulnerable, scared, desperate. “Yeah. Freedom. And if you hate it, you can leave anytime. I take it your current employers don’t operate like that.”

“No.”

“Am I right in assuming that you want out?”

She nods. 

“Well, from what I can see, you have two options. You can go on the run by yourself, freelance. But that’s only going to last so long. You’re good, I don’t doubt that, but sooner or later you’d run out of gas and they’d catch up to you. On the other hand, you could join another organization, one that can protect you, send you out to do some good in the world. That’s the option I chose. I haven’t regretted it yet, for the record.”

“You?”

“You think you’re the only one running from something?”

She averts her eyes toward the floor. “Oh.”

He offers his hand. “I’m Clint.”

“Natalia.” Her handshake is firm, a veneer of confidence over her deep-seated fear.

“So, what do you think? Option A or B?”

She bites her lip, the tears starting to dry on her cheeks. “They’ll really let me leave, if that’s what I want?”

“Yep. It’s a job, not a lifetime commitment.”

“Okay.” 

“Okay?”

She nods. 

He gets over his surprise, smiling. “Okay, then. Get dressed and we’ll go. I’ll wait outside.”

As he slips out through the door, he catches her trying to stifle a smile. Not so emotionless as she would have him believe. He grins, knowing he’s made the right choice.


End file.
